EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1 (Title of film)- The screen grab for our Title of the film is similar to the other Horror films that I have seen and analysed. We used plain, lower caps font. My group and I wanted a nice clear font that was easy to read and that stood out clearly to catch the audience's eye. By choosing this type of font we indicated to the audience that the film is not going to be a comedy, romance or action film. We chose to use the colour red for the font. Researching into other Horror films it is clear that in their film titles red is a popular colour as it represents blood and danger. So our red writing fits in nicely with the black background as it stands out big and clear. It is a typical horror film title and I would say that we have used graphics to imply the horror of our film. 
The music fades out just before the last scene, the title then comes straight onto the screen after the last scene has finished, we have also made the title stay on the screen for 4 seconds, so the audience are able to focus on the title. 

2 (setting/location) - The location of our film was introduced by using an establishing shot. I chose this screenshot as it is clear to the audience where the film is taking place, and usually in Horror films the film will start off with an establishing shot, as the audience need to be clear where all of the action is going to be happening. The location is set on a street with other houses, and right by woods, which shows the audience that the film will be set in both locations. Quite a lot of typical Horror films are set in a location where there are woods right near by, and I think the setting and location we have used is quite typical and realistic for this type of genre.

3 (Costume/Props) -I have used this image as it is one of our only props. The knife is key to the film as it helps develop the story. It also ensures the audience are aware of who are the killer and victim in the film., by showing the knife to the audience this makes it clear to them that something bad is about to happen. I have also used this image as it shows the killers costume, wearing all 'black' which is a stereotypical colour of what a killer would usually wear. Usually the killers clothes are casual, dirty and scruffy. They are not very appealing as they do not wish to stand out. I would say that we have shown the contrast in different costumes with the two characters well and clear. 

 4 (Camerawork and Editing) - Throughout our whole film we have used editing. We used the 'old film' affect, to give a different vibe to the film and because we were trying to base our editing similar to paranormal activity and by how successful the film is. The 'old film' affect created movement on the shots. It also made the film appear more realistic for this type of genre as many horror films in the old days had the 'old film' affect, due to them only having 'black and white' and 'old film' affect, not colour. However some horror films do not use editing in the way, though some do reduce the amount of colour in shots to give a dull, sadistic feeling.

5 (Title font and style) - For our opening credit titles, we used a different font to the title of the film 'Paranoid'. We chose to have the titles in bold to make the titles stand out which would catch the audiences eye. We kept the font colour the exact same to make the credits look effective and continuous throughout the film and. The colour red stands out bright and clear against the black background. It also reinforces danger and mystery. 

6 (Story and how the opening sets it up) - I have chosen this screen grab for showing the story because it is of the killer holding a knife to the victim, which is what the opening sequence is based on. The prop (knife) that is used in the story is a stereotypical prop that is used in horror films and is usually used for the victim. The victim will always appear innocent and weak, meaning that she is more than likely to get attacked with the knife.
The story in the opening sequence is based on a young teenage victim called Emma who is alone in the house whilst she is sleeping. Emma wakes up from a bad nightmare, and still has the nightmare going around in her head, thinking that she can see/hear things. The nightmare consisted of a 'killer' walking towards the house and then gets into the house somehow. The killer finds Emma upstairs in the bathroom, consequently, Emma is then held hostage by the killer.

7 (Genre and how the opening suggests it) - The genre of the film is suggested by the use of our music behind the opening two minutes. The fear building music fits the footage and indicates the genre clearly. The knife, 'Killer' and obvious 'Victim' all show the genre too. The hidden identity of the killer also fits in with the stereotype as most murderers prefer to remain unseen.

8 (How the characters are introduced) -The two characters are introduced by identifying Emma as the victim in bed, who wakes up from a nightmare. The killer is introduced and indentified outside the house in the woods carrying a knife, which is typical in a horror film. By using this technique it does not give away the identity of this character, therefore adding suspense to the film. 

9 (Special effects) - We used a range of different transitions to make our opening sequence look like a realistic horror film. 'Old film' effect was also used.